For people looking to liven up the formal rigamarole surrounding the exchange of business cards in Japan, Arigatou Co., Ltd., a company specializing in the sale of laser-etched food products, offers "Taberu Me" edible business cards printed on peanuts.

Taberu Me cards are created using Arigatou's high-grade CO2 laser engraver nicknamed "Shiawase-kun," which can etch up to 700 characters per second on hard organic materials like beans, nuts, rice and pasta and which has been optimized to print clean-looking logos, names and telephone numbers on the irregular surfaces of peanut shells.

As for the product name, Taberu means "eat" and Me could either be an abbreviation of meishi ("business card") or "me" in English, in which case Taberu Me would be saying "Eat me" -- a message you probably don't want to convey to your new business partner at the first meeting. Regardless, a set of 150 Taberu Me cards costs 5,800 yen (around $50), which is mere peanuts considering the lasting impression you will make on your new counterparts.

how fun! the image at the bottom actually prints "thanks." which is a nice way to say thank you to the customers.

i have certainly contemplated this many a times to print my business name on something food like m&ms or fortune cookies. but i don't think i have ever booked a hotel based on the yummy chocolates they left on my pillow. all i remember was mmmm. chocolate....

Ken

Definitely out of the ordinary, which is good for businesses that really need to stand out in the marketplace. I don't think food cards will replace traditional business cards anytime soon, but they are cool looking (and probably pretty tasty too).

Quirky, but not the most professional approach. I suppose the appropriateness of edible calling cards would depend on the type of business, i.e. a cafe would do very well out of this kind of gag, but a lawyer? Not so much ... Keep the ideas coming though!

This is a great idea. Not stodgy and common. I think anyone who gives these has a mind that is willing to wander into the unusual. And let's face it. Those are the minds that change the world. They're fun and they make me laugh. We need a little more of that in the business world.

frederick l. fox

Correction on the meaning of "taberu me". It does not mean "eat me". Word order in Japanese is not the same as English. It means either "me, who eats" or "meishi (business card) you can eat", in other words, an edible business card, which is exactly what it is.